(The videos are high resolution so are large.)
Our first trip to Little Cayman, one of the premier dive locations in the Caribbean. Little Cayman's permanent population is under 200. The island peak tops out at 40 feet above sea level.
Why hadn't we gone earlier? We had trouble settling on which resort to stay at (there are three on the island plus condos for rent). The reviews of Pirates Point Resort are very good, with an emphasis on the incredible food at this all-inclusive resort. But what's up with only two dives per day? That doesn't fit our usual routine of Dive, Dive, Dive! And an open bar is included in the rate and we drink hardly any alcohol while diving.
But we finally made the plunge (hah hah) and off we went. Our route was National Airport -> Miami -> Grand Cayman (with a dilapidated airport) and then twin otter to Little Cayman. This is actually quite a nice plane - has both pilot and co-pilot (the twin otter Curacao to Bonaire only carries a pilot as it's smaller) and air flow through the vents (again in contrast to the Bonaire flight). Note the dark pavement in front of the plane - that's the main road on the island, no fences around this landing strip!
Little Cayman has a pleasant informal airport with no security (Val with some other Pirates Point departing guests).
And on to the resort
where we had an oceanfront room.
Our room did not have air conditioning (the non-oceanfront rooms do) so would get hot later in the day. We did have fans which helped enormously.
The resort is the creation of Texan Gladys Howard and feels like Texas - friendly, homey, comfortable. There are only 10 rooms.
As seen from the water side. Our room (a duplex) was the left-most of the three obvious buildings. The right-most is Gladys' home where we had the last-night reception.
Of course the view from our room was pleasant (and loud).
The central building, which held the dining room and bar/social space, was air conditioned and had the only wifi (no phones or TVs at all).
Guests are encouraged to create sculptures based upon "found" treasurers and the bar area is their showcase.
Not all of the wildlife was underwater.
The staff includes two chefs; the dive masters/guides serve at mealtime as well. We dove frequently with Gay, a gregarious Texan, who also poured a mean champagne.
Sushi was the hors d'oeuvre on our last night.
Including the invasive lionfish (caught by volunteer dive masters to try and keep them under control - it seems to be working).
Breakfast is at 8 am and at 9 am you load into the van for the short drive to the boat.
The two dives are done in a leisurely style, with no demands to keep the dives short. We would get back to the resort around 2:30 pm with lunch waiting for us; hors d'oeuvres were at 6:30 and dinner at 7:30.
Eat, Dive, Dive, Eat, Eat, Sleep.
The most famous dive sites are on Bloody Bay Wall (northwest side); fortunately we had great conditions with very little wind so we could get to those sites every day (Pirates Point Resort is to the east of the Lighthouse at the extreme southwest).
Val had some time in the afternoons for painting what she saw.
Bottom line:
- This was the most relaxing dive trip we've ever taken.
- We did 12 dives. Andy spent 13 hours 26 minutes underwater bottoming out at 99 feet and Val spent 13 hours 59 minutes bottoming out at 93 feet.
- Two days after returning, we reserved for next year.
On to the photos!
(The videos are high resolution so are large.)
My reader report for Undercurrent is here; the full review requires a subscription (which any serious diver should have). The text of the review is here.